At dawn, Xia Fei emerged from the Wind Garden’s storehouse, his expression rather tired.
The morning mist had yet to disperse, but the Wind Garden was already busy. Nobody spoke, the Skywing elites silently gathering in the rear garden. Everyone had put away their hobbies and found a corner to close their eyes and rest.
Xia Fei was polishing a pair of serpent blades, again and again. Even when these blades were so bright that they could be used as mirrors, he continued to polish them. Xia Fei knew that he was trying to relieve the tension in his heart.
Upon seeing Xia Fei enter the rear garden, everyone nodded at him but still said nothing. There was a sullen silence in Wind Garden, a state of pre-battle build-up, energy waiting to erupt at the right moment, an oppressive and resolved mood.
“It seems like they are nursing some other worries?” Oro was surprised and told Xia Fei. “This mood is far too oppressive; I can almost smell the blood in the air.”
Xia Fei agreed with Oro. He found a corner to sit down and then began stroking his spatial ring constantly.
Oro smiled. “There’s no need to be so nervous. Today, the main force is Xia Buyun and Xia Tian. You just need to do your duty. Besides, you’ve prepared amply, so you shouldn’t have a problem.”
Xia Fei shook his head. “Today’s battle will decide the fate of the Skywings and the Moonwards. No level of preparation is enough.”
Xia Fei paused and added, “Look at the attitude of the clan elites; it’s very abnormal. I have to think that there’s a reason. This battle might be the fuse for another, even greater battle. It’s hard to say.”
Oro said nothing. The Skywings truly were very strange. It was not like they were the ones going out to fight, so there was no reason for them to be so nervous.
About five minutes later, the door to Xia Buyun’s study was pushed open. Clearly, he and Xia Tian had already talked and decided on something, which they had chosen not to explain to anyone else.
He swept his eyes over the clan elites and settled on Xia Fei, upon which he slightly frowned, but he still said nothing.
“Wuye will guard the compound while everyone else will follow me!” Xia Buyun raised his head and lightly waved his hand.
Xia Fei was stunned. Back at High Water Pavilion, it had already been decided that only those involved in the incident would be participating, with the battle being kept a secret from everyone else, but Xia Buyun was bringing all thirty-six Law Emperors of the Xia family! This was clearly against the rules!
Frowning, Xia Fei quietly followed the clan warrior to the side garden, where the spatial gate was located…
…
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
The pack of wolves from the Xia family passed through the spatial gate and arrived inside a warship floating in the sky. Through the giant windows, which extended from ceiling to floor, they could see a silent and desolate planet below, the ground scorched and devoid of life. This was presumably today’s battlefield.
Nodding at the Xia Clan warriors and ordering them to stay here, Xia Buyun led Xia Fei and Xia Tian along a long corridor. A set of automatic doors opened, and the three of them silently went through.
This was a rather luxurious room, the sofa so soft that it made one drowsy. Next door was the bathroom; there was tea and fruit served on the table, too. It was clear that someone had readied this room for them.
Once the three sat down, Xia Fei curiously asked, “Patriarch, weren’t outsiders not allowed to spectate today’s battle?”
Xia Buyun looked outside the window and sternly said, “Last night, when you were in the storehouse, the rules were changed. The Moonward Clan requested that the other clans be allowed to spectate so that fairness can be guaranteed, and those above agreed to their request. This warship we’re on is the spectating ship that the Dragon Ascension’s Feng family arranged. Besides us, there are a dozen or so other clans, along with their elite members, from White Horse Constellation.”
Xia Fei said nothing. Since the rules had been changed the night before the battle, it probably meant that the Moonward Clan had some sort of scheme.
Xia Tian raised his eyeglasses as if he had thought of something. He said to Xia Fei, “Right, I’ve finished asking around about that thing you requested. That friend of yours called Gu Dong was killed by Yu Hua long ago. Together with his family, that makes it fourteen people in total.
“Roaring Tiger Park, which you used to manage in the Yu family, has been abandoned. The workers, their families, and even the exotic beasts being raised in the park were all killed. On top of all that, for some reason, Yu Hua also killed a merchant called Hao Ping and a girl called Zhu Li. Hah… In short, he secretly disposed of everyone who you had had interactions with in his clan.”
Xia Fei scowled. Gu Dong was the teacher who had given him the initial guidance into the clan, and when everyone else was looking down on him, he firmly stood on his side. How could he forget such kindness?
Those brothers at Roaring Tiger Park had worked for Xia Fei, so they could somewhat be considered his trusted aides, but who had those exotic beasts provoked? Even they had been silenced by Yu Hua?
As for Hao Ping, he was just an ordinary small merchant. However, just because he had exchanged crystals and bought some of Xia Fei’s things a few times, he had been killed.
The most pitiful of all was Zhu Li. She was an ordinary-looking, short-haired girl. Perhaps because she had seen Xia Fei before in the Panhuman Alliance, Zhu Li would often peek in on his training through the window, a hint of admiration in her eyes. Alas, despite the two of them never exchanging a word, she had still been unable to escape Yu Hua’s purge?!
Xia Fei’s complexion turned ashen and he clenched his fists. Yu Hua’s methods truly made one’s heart chill. Everything he appeared to be before had been a facade. Down to his bones, he was an insidious and lowly person!
Xia Tian slightly nodded, sternly saying, “Back on Snake Isle, when you ran into Yu Hua and the Moonwards attacking the Yu family, you made the right choice by not choosing to stand on his side. If you had compromised with him back then, you would’ve probably joined those innocent people in death.”
Xia Fei looked away. Yu Hua had truly treated him well in the past, but when Xia Fei saw the other leading the charge against the former patriarch, he instantly understood that this was someone who could not be trusted. Even if standing at Yu Hua’s side would let him preserve his life, Yu Hua would undoubtedly silenced him once everything was over. Thus, he chose without hesitation to stand against the other.
“If I pick up Yu Hua, I’ll make his life worse than death!” Xia Fei clenched his fists and muttered, his every word suffused with killing intent!
Xia Buyun and Xia Tian shook their heads. “You won’t have a chance to fight Yu Hua, for your opponent is Golcen Ward.”
Xia Fei was startled. It turned out that the order of battle had been decided while he was completely unaware. Xia Fei would be fighting Golcen Ward, the strongest Law Overlord of the Moonward Clan!
This was what the Skywing Clan hoped to see. Whether it was Xia Tian or Xia Buyun, they were completely confident against Yu Hua or Ulcen Ward! There would be no need for Xia Fei to come forward. The outcome of this match was sealed!
However, Xia Fei displayed no excitement. From how Xia Buyun, Xia Tian, and the Skywing elites had been acting today, he could tell that their attitude had changed overnight, despite this being the best-case scenario! There was something fishy going on!
“When were the lots pulled?” Xia Fei asked.
“It was also last night. The Feng Family of Dragon Ascension suddenly informed us that the lots were being pulled. You were in the storehouse at the time, so we didn’t get to tell you,” Xia Tian sternly said. “The result of the lots was that you’ll be facing Golcen Ward; I’m up against Ulcen Ward, while the patriarch is fighting Yu Hua.”
Xia Fei fell silent, his expression grave. Xia Buyun and Xia Tian exchanged a glance before staring at Xia Fei.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Xia Tian curiously asked.
Xia Fei gritted his teeth. “A scheme.”
The two Law Overlords were startled and they curiously asked, “This is clearly a situation to our advantage. Why would you think that it’s a scheme?”
Xia Fei replied with a dark face, “The rules were suddenly changed the night before the battle, and the order of the battle decided by the draws is far too advantageous for us. Everyone knows that the two of you are far stronger than Yu Hua or Ulcen Ward.
“If things go as expected, the patriarch should kill Yu Hua and Xia Tian should kill Ulcen Ward, so before I even get the chance to come out, the battle will be over and the Moonwards will be forced to leave White Horse Constellation.
“But,” Xia Fei emphasized, “when things are abnormal, evil is afoot! Suddenly changing the rules the night before is already fishy enough, and for the draw to be so in our favor is even more suspicious! Though I can’t guess at what the Moonwards are scheming of, I know that they have some sort of plan.”
Xia Buyun and Xia Tian both nodded and looked at Xia Fei in satisfaction.
“Patriarch, I told you that this newcomer Xia Fei isn’t simple. Being able to smell a scheme so quickly, he must possess a meticulous thought process and astounding logic,” Xia Tian said with a smile.
Xia Buyun gave an understanding chuckle and said, “Someone who’s able to leave Xia Laoshi in such a miserable state naturally has to have some cunning. Xia Fei, you don’t need to worry too much. I immediately told our grand ancestor what was going on. Do you know what his venerable self said?”
Xia Fei shook his head and perked up his ears.
“His venerable self said that whether it’s a hidden scheme or an open scheme, the Skywings have always sought reason through their fists. If they won’t be reasonable, we won’t be reasonable, and if they’re reasonable, we still won’t be reasonable! The moment we discover a scheme, we should rush in there regardless!” Xia Buyun recounted the grand ancestor’s words.
Xia Fei suddenly discovered that this grand ancestor, whom he had yet to meet, was rather adorable, being someone who exposed secrets and destroyed schemes through unreasonable actions. Regardless of what scheme the Moonward Clan was brewing, as long as the Skywings continued to be this unruly and unreasonable, nobody would be able to do anything to them!
As the ancients said, ‘the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the domineering, the domineering fear the unreasonable, and the unreasonable fear those who do not care for their lives!’ The Skywings were both reasonable and did not care for their lives!
…
There was still some time until the start of the battle, and the representatives of the powerful clans continued to board the ship. Xia Buyun and Xia Tian closed their eyes to meditate, but Xia Fei remained perturbed.
A strong sense of unease made it impossible for him to calm down. The Moonward Clan’s actions were too strange and unfathomable.
The matches with Xia Fei going against Golcen Ward and Xia Buyun’s match against Yu Hua was more or less settled. After all, the vast gap in strength had already decided the outcome.
The only problem was the bespectacled Xia Tian’s clash against Ulcen Ward. In terms of cultivation, Ulcen Ward was a little better, but Xia Tian had the Skywings’ superspeed, so he was actually a little stronger than Ulcen Ward.
Looking at the quiet and meditating Xia Tian, Xia Fei muttered, “Could it be that Ulcen Ward had a sudden breakthrough in this one month and he became confident in his chances of defeating Xia Tian?”
As he was pondering this question, someone knocked at their door. Opening the door, he saw Great Law Emperor Xia Wu. He had a rather nervous expression as he whispered to Xia Buyun, “Patriarch, the Moonward Clan’s people are here. The others are normal, but there’s something weird about Ulcen Ward.”
Everyone was surprised and asked in unison, “What’s bizarre about him?”
Xia Wu gritted his teeth and replied, “Other people came in like normal, but Ulcen Ward was shut up inside a giant metal box by the Moonward Clan. That isn’t a box for holding people, but more like one for holding a wild beast!”
